MOSCOW/KIEV, Sept. 5 — Russian President Vladimir Putin has ordered a three-day halt to strikes against Kiev, a move linked to preparations for contacts with U.S. envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said on Saturday.
“The meeting with President Putin will indeed take place, and there will be talks. As a rule, such meetings have been quite lengthy in the past. Let us wait and see. We will certainly keep you informed,” Peskov told journalists.
Peskov also urged against making predictions about settlement proposals and called for waiting for the outcome of Putin’s meeting with the U.S. negotiators.
Witkoff and Kushner landed at Moscow’s Vnukovo Airport at 12:52 p.m. local time (0952 GMT) on Saturday. They were welcomed at the airport by Russia’s special presidential envoy Kirill Dmitriev.
Peskov’s statement came hours after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said earlier in the day that Russia had struck airports in Kiev and its southeastern suburb of Boryspil overnight.
“Clearly, these Russian strikes on the airports are a reaction to the discussions and preparations for the possibility of the U.S. side using an aircraft to travel to Ukraine and land at Kiev Airport or Boryspil Airport,” Zelensky said in a post on X.
Zelensky said that Ukraine had taken note of the Russian move and would adjust its operations next week accordingly with regard to Russian airspace.
Zelensky also said on Thursday that he expected to meet Trump’s envoys in the Ukrainian capital in the coming days. (Namibia Daily News / Xinhua)
